If you still haven’t taken the time to have a business card made for yourself, then you are making a big BIG mistake.

Here’s two things that you really need to know . . . .  Your cheapest form of marketing is a great business card. They can cost you as little as six dollars for 250 at an on line printing service like VistaPrint or they can cost you as much as several hundred dollars for 1000 from a local printer like Maverick Press in Littleton, Colorado.   Your design, choice of paper and quantity ordered factor in to your final costs but any way you figure it, your business card is your least expensive marketing cost and is the most versatile tool you will use.

The second thing you need to know about your business card is that once you hand it over to another professional and leave the premises, it serves as a reminder of who you are and how to reach you. Think about it . . . .  I told you about that old adage “last in, first out.”  That means that if your business card keeps your name in front of other professionals’ eyes last, then your name is the one that is likely to be recalled when they are ready to call with a referral.  Last in, first out.

And, here’s one more thing you need to know about having a business card.  It’s the professional thing to do.  No CEO, no professional, and no office manager is going to refer clients to you until you take yourself seriously enough to get decent business card. Think about it. . . .  Having a business card implies that you are serious about your professional services. . . . It implies that you have some degree of stability i.e. your address, website, and phone number aren’t changing daily. . . .  And, it implies that you have something of value to offer.

Still putting off getting that business card? P-L-E-A-S-E!  What’s keeping you from taking that step?  Let me know and I’ll be happy to nudge you along!

Tags: Business Card, Professional Image

This is the fifth part of an 11 part series on How To Build A Great Marketing Kit.

Before you read further, you may want to read the introduction here.

The next items that you want to collect are reprints of any articles that have been written about you. Perhaps you wrote a great thesis in graduate school and the departmental newsletter made mention of it.

Or, perhaps you were elected to chair your local professional association and an article was written about you.

Did the local newspaper write an article about your community involvement?

Did the American Cancer Society write a booklet about your experience as a survivor or exemplary volunteer?

Any article that can reflect positively on your professional image is appropriate to include in your marketing kit. By including these items, you can increase your credibility, likability, familiarity, and common ground on which to build professional relationships with your potential referral sources.

Tags: Newspaper, Professional Image, Relationships, Reprints

This is the introduction to an 11 part series to help you
build a great marketing kit.

What do you need to take with you when you are marketing your practice to other professionals?

• A business card
• Your professional bio (NOT a resume) – to highlight your expertise
• A menu / description of your services
• Article reprints about you
• Article reprints that you have written
• Press releases
• A brochure / fact sheet
• Client testimonials
• A personalized cover letter
• A portfolio

Take a few minutes right now to gather the items that you already have from the list above.  For now,  just take an inventory to see which ones are missing from your marketing kit.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be talking to you in detail about the specifics of these 10 essential items – helping you create the ones you don’t have and, hopefully, helping you improve on the ones that are not presenting the professional image that you desire.

I hope you will drop me a note (by adding a comment below) to let me know if you have your marketing kit in order.

Tags: Biography, Cover Letter, Fact Sheet, Menu of Services, Portfolio, Press Release, Professional Image, Resume, Testimonial